Fresh off their weeks-long tour of the southeastern U.S., the Blind Spots return to their hometown to play a big St. Patrick’s Day show at the Haunt on Friday night.

“Well, absolutely, the Walsh in me loves St. Patrick’s Day,” said Blind Spots singer Maddy Walsh via email. “It’s a notorious party holiday, and I’m a notorious party girl. Just kidding — or am I?

“The timing was right for a big hometown show between two longer tours. We just returned from being down south for just over six weeks, and at the end of the month, we head west again, playing shows in Chicago, all over Colorado, Texas, New Mexico, California, Oregon and Washington, then we head straight across for a set at Shakori Hills GrassRoots in North Carolina after a show in Seattle. So this show will be a great chance to see everybody at home, and we’re psyched to have The Ithaca Bottom Boys kicking things off for us.”

This was the fourth year the Blind Spots have headed south for the depths of winter, and their efforts seem to be paying off.

“I think this past tour was my favorite one so far, because we’re seeing audiences grow in cities we’re returning to,” Walsh said. “In some places we’re playing better venues, meeting bands we really connect with, and making some really lasting friendships with people. And about a month into it, we got to see a bunch of friends from home in Donna the Buffalo and Big Mean Sound Machine at GrassRoots in Miami, as well as friends in bands down that way, including I-Town faves Fabi (World Music Experience, Nativos) and Telekinetic Walrus.

“Belonging to the GrassRoots family continues to be one of my most cherished parts of coming from this region as a musician. And I absolutely love touring and moving around. It’s equally awesome, in a completely different way, to be home, playing for your hometown audience.”

“We’ve been working on recording our next album at Pyramid Sound and have drums and bass tracked to 19 tunes, which we’ll whittle down to a more manageable number once the theme begins to more clearly reveal itself,” Walsh said. “We just keep writing songs, though!

“And given the current political climate, I’m more interested in writing songs of broader political relevance these days than the kinds of songs we used to write — in the past, I’ve found myself often writing about the bold choice to perpetually take life by the reins, forsaking guidelines of traditional success in favor of doing what makes you happy, which I guess is a direct result of our collective decision to leave our day jobs and plunge into the music business full-time.

“The inevitability of our mortality (what Suave calls the ‘hit by the bus scenario’) fuels a lot of us with a sense of urgency, and knowing how tough it can be to follow a big, impossible dream, I always want to cheer on those people taking chances and living from that bold, low-security, high-risk place. But that’s personal, or it feels not big enough right now; big, impossible dreams aside, we’re living in a time where defending each other’s basic human rights is paramount. Speaking up against daily injustices isn’t radical or overtly political anymore — it’s just human decency.

“That said, the theme of the songs we’re writing right now has shifted. But who knows — since recording a whole album demands that you sit still long enough to do the work, maybe Trump will be impeached by the time we’re ready for that, and we’ll be writing celebratory songs about how our progress didn’t die after all! We have a lot of material, and it’s still growing, so we’ll see how it all shakes out.

“For now, it’s one thing at a time, which means we’re getting psyched about green beer, the Ithaca Bottom Boys, and a whole bunch of hometown love on the 17th!”

Tenzin Chopak releases a new album “Alone in the House” on Thursday night at Casita del Polaris.(Photo: Provided)

Chopak goes solo on latest album

Just a few months after releasing his excellent album “Awful Good,” Tenzin Chopak is back with another collection of songs titled “Alone in the House” that he’ll be releasing Thursday night at Casita del Polaris.

As its title implies, the nine-song album was recorded at Chopak’s house in January, with engineer Brian Dozoretz capturing the music with just one stereo microphone

“This is just a short, little, low-key album,” Chopak said in an interview last Saturday, which was his 41st birthday. “I just made a one-day, one–mic recording, with just my voice and guitar. And a few songs I only did one take of. There are no blended takes; the songs are all single takes all the way through.”

Some of the songs date back to last summer, while others were more recent. “The opening song titled ‘Virginia’ I wrote the day before I recorded and Brian only let me do one take of it,” Chopak said. “So it’s really raw and simple and totally fresh. It’s just an imperfect human playing from the heart.”

Tenzin Chopak’s “Alone in the House”(Photo: Provided)

There are a couple of remakes of songs — “My Love” and “Stay Close To Me” — from Chopak’s first Rockwood Ferry album, “Speak Like Water.”

“I developed a way of playing them live that’s different from that album, and I always wanted to solo versions of them, so I put them on here,” he said.

As for an overriding lyrical theme, “There’s not a intellect involved. It’s more like, here are the songs that came out this time and now I’ll work on the next album,” Chopak said. “Its only purpose is to be played by someone who’s on a road trip and wants to listen to just some guitar and voice and simple songs.”

Beverly Stokes, who released her debut album last year, will open Thursday’s 8 p.m. show. Visit www.tenzinchopak.com to learn more.

Gucci Mane coming to Cornell

Atlanta-based rapper and trap music pioneer Gucci Mane, with special guest BIA as the opener, will perform at Cornell University’s Barton Hall at 7 p.m. Sunday, March 26. Widely ranked among the most gifted rappers of his generation, Gucci has been incredibly productive since his long incarceration and subsequent early release last May of “Everybody’s Looking,” his first album in more than a decade. Tickets are available at www.cornellconcerts.com.

After this week’s snowstorm, I’ll bet a lot of people will be feeling cabin fever by the weekend. Luckily, there are some cool shows happening around town this week.

•Thursday, Monks on the Commons continues its weekly social with cellist Hank Roberts and keyboardist Michael Stark, who will perform from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. It’s a chance to see two of Ithaca’s top players in a rare duo setting, and it’s for free.

•Besides the above-mentioned Blind Spots show, there are a bunch of other gigs around town on St. Patrick’s Day. Friday night, the Small Kings are at the Range, Stone Cold Miracle is at Casita del Polaris, Spacetrain 2017 is at the Westy, Thrown Down Cold is at the Dock, Three Stone Fire is at Hopshire Brewing, Se Leighheas are at Ithaca Bakery, DJ Ha-meen is at Lot 10,

In the greater Trumansburg area, the Mary Ott Band is at Felicia’s Hive 45, Bill Ring will host a Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem tribute at the Silver Line Tap Room, Dapper Dan is at Atlas Bowl, the Notorious Stringbusters are at Two Goats Brewing in Hector and the Green Mountain Playboys (featuring Rosie Newton) are at the Finger Lakes Cider House in Interlaken.

•Saturday, Ithaca Underground and the Fanclub Collective will team to present a show at Cayuga Lodge with New York City’s Ava Luna joined by locals Shull, Lady D and the Shadow Spirits and Oshwa. Cover is $5 for the 8 p.m. show. Visit www.ithacaunderground.org for details.

•Sunday, the Lehman Alternative Community School will host its annual Flatbread Fundraiser at Agava Restaurant, with Goatboy — Judy Hyman, Jeff Claus, Richie Stearns and Steve Selin — performing at 4-6 p.m. to raise funds for the LACS connection to the Akwesasne Freedom School in upstate New York. Suggested donation is $10-$15. Visit www.facebook.com/events/451862748537353 for details, or call 319-4366 to reserve a table during the event.

•Sunday, Joe Jencks will return to Bound for Glory. He’s performed on the show recently as part of the trio Brother Sun, but this will be his first solo appearance in many years. Find out more at joejencks.com. There’s no cover for the 8 p.m. show, which is broadcast live from Cornell’s Anabel Taylor Hall. Visit www.boundforglory.org for details.

•Sunday, Connecticut-based singer-songwriter Frank Critelli will perform at the Range, joined by local favorites Janet Batch, Vee Da Bee, and Adrien Brodeur Cover is $5 for the 8 p.m. show. Visit www.facebook.com/Frank-Critelli-59852521448 for information.

•Monday, Imperials will play a kickoff gig for their upcoming tour of the Northeast. They’ll be joined by tourmates Sip and local duo Shull for the 8 p.m. show. Cover is $5. Find out more at www.facebook.com/ImperialsNY.

Catalano has covered the local music scene since 1992. Follow him on Twitter at @IthacaMusicNews, and email him at jimcat@aol.com.